Two recent deaths from the brain-eating amoeba
Naegleria fowleri have been
linked to use of neti pots. In both cases, the victims used tap water to fill
the pots.

Neti pots are a good way to clean and clear the sinuses. But the pots should
be filled with sterile water — either distilled water, or previously boiled
water — with a small amount of non-iodized salt added according to
instructions.

In June, a 20-year-old man in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, died from brain
infection with the deadly amoeba. And this month, the state health department
reported that a 51-year-old woman in DeSoto Parish died from the same rare
amoeba infection.

Both deaths came after the victims irrigated their sinuses with neti pots
filled with tap water.

Tap water isn't supposed to be crawling with amoeba. Proper chlorination
kills nearly all such bugs. But "nearly all" isn't the same as "all" or
"sterile."

Fortunately, N. fowleri amoeba can't hurt you if you swallow them in
drinking water. Although the amoeba are disturbingly common, they rarely cause
human illness. Most cases occur in people who swim or play in very warm water.
In the U.S., this nearly always happens in Southern or Southwestern states.

Unfortunately, N. fowleri is attracted by the chemical messengers in human
nerves. Once inside the nose, the amoeba travel up the olfactory nerve into the
brain. It literally uses brain cells as a food source. Infection is almost
always fatal.